Cakewalk
by Radical.2
Summary: Gregory peeked his head around the door, just to register what he would have to do to get some of that cake. Except, when he looked, he saw a most beautiful-looking girl. And as he wondered, Luna Lovegood looked up and met his startled gaze. Luna/Goyle.
1. The Cake

Gregory Goyle was walking casually down the halls of Hogwarts when he smelled the smell.

And, Merlin, it wasn't just any old scent.

This one only came once a year for most, and sometimes not at all.

The scent of burning candles atop a house-elf-made cake set his mouth watering and craving what what soon be his.

Or so he hoped.

He dramatically and stealthily straightened up against the wall next to the door from which the scent was wafting to his face.

Gregory peeked his head around the door for a half moment, just to register what he would have to do to get some of that cake.

Except, when he looked, he saw a most beautiful-looking girl, and he wondered where he had seen her before.

And as he wondered, Luna Lovegood- he finally recalled her name- looked up and met his startled gaze.

Calm and breezy as ever, she gave him a quick smile and nod.

That was when Ron Weasley, one of her horrid Gryffindor friends, turned his head and saw Gregory watching them.

Weasley immediately shouted, "Oi, you! Get out of here!" and an angry mob of lions began to pounce upon him.

So he hid behind the door again.

Gregory knew that hiding in the simplest spot was sometimes best, and most certainly the easiest, for he was a simple kind of boy.

Sure enough, the Gryffindors, closely followed by wary Ravenclaws, ran in the opposite direction in order to chase him off.

"What utter morons," he muttered to himself. "Can't even tell when a fellow is hiding behind a door."

Of course, Luna was neither a moron or unobservant, which was why she was able to surprise him.

"It's not very nice to insult people, Gregory. They're my friends."

A voice from behind him made him jump and slowly turn around.

Ignoring her statement, he gave Luna a wolfy Slytherin smile.

"You caught the drop on my, Lovegood! You're, well, good!" he complimented her.

"I know," she said brightly, then paused before adding, "Do you have anything to say to me?"

"Hmm..." Gregory thought for a moment. "May I have a slice of that deliciously-scented cake?"

"Not before you say it," said Luna with a mischievous smile.

"Say what? It?"

"You know..."

"I don't."

"Well," she said slowly, "I have a birthday cake, was until now attending a birthday party, and am asking you to say something, so you say..."

"Are you going to eat that cake or not?" Gregory asked her impatiently.

"Manners, Gregory," she replied softly, standing in the doorway, her platinum blond hair swishing over her shoulders.

"Just give me cake!" he found himself shouting, then shoving her to the side like she was nothing more than a doll.

Just as he had reached the coveted birthday cake, he found himself freezing up and falling to the ground, his limbs paralyzed.

"I'm sorry, Gregory," he heard her say, though all he could see was the streamer-covered ceiling.

"Happy birthday, Lovegood," he groaned, but the ceiling was already darkening.

"Too late," he heard her say, and then he realized that the lights weren't going out.

He was falling asleep...

Or something like that.


	2. The Illusion

Gregory was a simple boy, and most of the time people were simplistic around him.

With Slytherins, this usually meant them mocking him behind his back, but that was okay.

He was okay as long as they didn't mock him directly to his face.

So, naturally, Gregory wasn't used to being in difficult situations.

Sticky situations, like waking up in a room he hadn't fallen asleep in.

Had he fallen asleep?

And why, _why _was he tied to a chair in this different room?

Gregory looked up from the ropes around him and his immediate surroundings.

And _she _was there.

Also tied to a chair.

After a while of this, he could almost get used to things that weren't simple.

Like Luna- the not simple thing was that he couldn't tell whether or not she was simple.

And if she was tied to a chair too, then who had done this?

It was all a bit much for a simple guy like Gregory to bear.

Gregory took a deep breath, then asked her slowly, "Lovegood, why are we both tied to chairs?"

It must be Saturday morning, or Friday night, not that it mattered.

Perhaps Crabbe was looking for- nevermind.

No one would notice, he had all the time in the world.

He would die tied up to a chair, or maybe Luna would drive him mad with un-simplicity.

Luna replied calmly, "It's fun, isn't it? On the second Saturday of each month, that is. Otherwise it's quite frustrating."

"Lovegood, did _you _do this? I have places to be today, you know."

Avoiding his question, she said pointedly, "Liar."

"Not."

"You lied. You have nothing to do today."

"I do."

"What, then?" she asked defiantly.

That pulled Gregory for a loop, and he took a moment to think.

"Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner."

"I wouldn't worry about that," Luna said cryptically.

"Mid-morning snack. Mid-afternoon snack. Midnight snack."

"I suppose."

"Cupcake break at 2:00. Bacon break at four. Cake break at-"

"That rhymes, and bacon break has alliteration."

Gregory looked confused at the last word. "A little what?"

"Alliteration. Like Gregory Goyle. Both words start with the same letter."

"Huh," he said, interested in this seemingly simple statement. "Like your name."

"Yes," she agreed. "You're a quick learner," she added.

He beamed, and was about to thank her when he remembered that she had tied him to a chair.

Nevermind that, then.

If he thought about it, it was kind of funny, somehow.

In a really weird- but cool- way.

He couldn't help but think that she was one of the only people he'd like to be alone with in a room tied to a chair.

Probably the only person, as everyone else in this school would just insult him.

No one else in this school would tie him to a chair, actually.

No one in this _country_ would tie themselves to a chair along with him.

"If you do this every month, how do you get out of the ropes?" Gregory asked her.

Luna replied innocently, "Magic. Or you just stand up."

"Huh?"

"Try it," she encouraged him.

He stood up slowly from the chair, passing through the ropes as if they were a...an...

"An illusion," Luna informed him, standing up from her chair, the ropes disappearing as she did.

Gregory wished that his thoughts would disappear.

Wished that they were an illusion.

Or at least simpler than they had been for the last...

It had only taken ten minutes.


End file.
